Jim Mashek

WILDCATS WILL OPEN KHSAA CLASS 3A PLAYOFFS AT HANCOCK COUNTY; WARREN EAST TURNS ITS FOCUS TO JOHN HARDIN MATCHUP

The Warren East High School football team knew it was playing at home for the final time this season.

The Raiders knew they might need some style points, with the possibility of the KHSAA’s RPI formula determining the final participants in the Class 4A playoffs.

But none of that really mattered, with former nemesis Franklin-Simpson on the opposite sideline.

“Senior Night is always an emotional night,” Warren East coach Tanner Hall said. “We haven’t had a lot of success, over the years, (against Franklin-Simpson) …Our kids were motivated all week. They just wanted to come out and play football.”

Indeed, the Raiders had defeated the longtime rivals from Simpson County just once since 2013, when Warren East completed a 10-0 regular season under former coach Jeff Griffith in 2022. And Warren East had lost three straight games over the month of October, starting with a gut-wrenching, 35-31 loss to Allen County-Scottsville.

Warren East put all that aside Friday night, as senior quarterback/defensive back/kicking specialist Dane Parsley put on a show in his final game on the blue turf of Jim Ross Field. Parsley scored six touchdowns, to become the school’s career leader in touchdowns, in leading the Raiders to an emphatic 50-27 victory over the Wildcats.

Warren East improved to 6-4 overall and will open the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs next week at against John Hardin High School (8-2) in Radcliff. Franklin-Simpson, meanwhile, will take a 5-5 record into its KHSAA Class 3A matchup against Hancock County (8-2) in Lewisport, on the banks of the Ohio RIver.

“We had to find ourselves again,” Warren East running back Jackson McCool said.

Parsley was poised to show them the way, leading the Raiders on one brisk drive after another against a tough, resourceful Franklin-Simpson defense. On defense, Parsley actually moved into more of a middle linebacker’s role, what with junior QB Brady Delk and the misdirection ways of Franklin-Simpson’s Wing-T attack.

“The last two or three weeks, we’ve struggled,” Parsley said. “We’ve had some lingering injuries. But this game, it means a lot, to our team, our school, our community. We’ve built a brotherhood and we’re ready to get to the playoffs, and see what we can do.”

The Raiders broke a 14-14 tie in the second quarter and kept Franklin-Simpson at arm’s length throughout the second half, claiming a victory that puts Warren East in a different frame of mind for postseason play. Parsley did it with his arm, his legs, and his vision in finding open receivers, time and again.

“Dane is really good at seeing the field around him,” Warren East senior lineman Jaron Mank said. “This game meant everything to us. Now we’ve got to get to work and win another one.”

Warren East coach Tanner Hall, a former offensive lineman himself, said the return of Mank and his Raiders teammate Brett Campbell to his team’s offensive line helped tilt the scales in East’s favor. Parsley scored all of the Raiders’ 21 points after halftime, opening the third-quarter scoring with a 64-yard dash through the teeth of the Franklin-Simpson defense.

The Wildcats did everything they could to neutralize Parsley, but his quick decisions and breakaway speed in the open field has long been an equalizer for Warren East. Parsley also shines as an undersized front-court player in basketball, and he plans to compete in both baseball and track and field in the spring.

“Dane deserves all of it, and then some,” Hall said. “What a way to cap off your Senior Night … I’m thrilled for all our seniors. That’s how you want to do it, with a decisive win.

“We know Franklin-Simpson is always going to be a tough, physical opponent.”

That was the backdrop on Friday night, with both teams looking for the upper hand until Dane Parsley took the bull by the horns.

He never let go, either.

“When Dane gets going, we all get going,” Warren East’s Jackson McCool said.

Parsley needed just two minutes, 28 seconds to get into the end zone for the first time, scoring on a 9-yard run before adding the extra point himself. (Injuries pressed Parsley into the kicking duties at midseason.) Franklin-Simpson’s Brady Delk answered with a pretty play-action pass that went for a 26-yard touchdown to Wildcats teammate Colin Anderson.

Brody McAlister kicked the extra point to tie things up at 7.

Warren East’s Jacob Miller grabbed a punt off the short bounce and hit the left sideline for a 49-yard return, just short of the goal line. Presley put the Raiders back in front, on a 1-yard keeper that went for a TD with 3:04 left in the first quarter, and Anderson keyed the Wildcats’ next drive before scoring on a 3-yard run to tie the score at 14.

Parsley’s 4-yard touchdown run, and subsequent pass to Raiders teammate Atlas Pinson for a two-point conversion put Warren East back in front, 22-14. The Raiders’ Jackson McCool found the end zone from three yards out with 4:48 left in the first half, and Warren East took a 15-point lead into the intermission.

After the Warren East marching band did an offbeat look at modern music at halftime, Parsley and the Raiders returned to the field ready to hit the collective accelerator.

Parsley’s splendid 64-yard touchdown run extended the Raiders’ lead to 22 points with 10:39 left in the third quarter, and Pinson and East teammate Jaron Mank stopped one Franklin-Simpson possession with a sack of Delk. The Wildcats, however, capitalized on a Warren East mistake in the kicking game, and Delk would find Colin Anderson for a 5-yard touchdown pass that left Franklin-Simpson two scores behind at 36-20.

Parsley would score two more touchdowns, before it was all over, and Delk fired a 49-yard TD pass to Cason Graves in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. The Raiders would briefly celebrate Parsley’s sixth touchdown of the night, an 11-yard run on a quarterback draw with 6:22 left in the game, and Parsley would give way to backup QB Brandon McClusky in the game’s final minutes.

Franklin-Simpson coach Max Chaney is looking for a better performance next week at Hancock County, and Chaney understands that Warren East will again be a district opponent next year, bringing a little extra spice to the rivalry.

“We didn’t execute, we weren’t physical enough,” Chaney said in a text message on Saturday morning. “We’ve been playing a lot of young guys, and it shows … (Parsley) is a great athlete. He’s a good kid and a great athlete. He played very well …”

Parsley finished the game with 158 passing yards, while adding another 147 on the ground. He was quick to credit his offensive line — tackles Brett Campbell and Jaron Mank, guards Aden Berisa and Preston Stillwell and center Grayson Blair — for solid protection that allowed him to improvise and take the fight to the Wildcats.

“We looked a lot better running the football,” Warren East coach Tanner Hall said. “Now we get to work on the playoffs, and John Hardin.”